ABILENE, Texas – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team split a doubleheader Saturday at Abilene Christian, falling in the first game, 10-4, before the offense exploded in the start of Game 2 to pick up a 7-2 win.
 
The Quakers improve to 1-2 to begin the year and will attempt to get a series split Sunday afternoon.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Junior transfer Connor Chavez had himself quite the afternoon at the plate, going 4-for-5 at the dish in Game 1 and then 1-for-2 with three runs scored in Game 2. Through his first three games in a Penn uniform, Chavez is batting .636 (7-for-11) with a 1.441 OPS.

*In Game 1, the first five Penn batters in the order recorded at least one hit, tallying 10 of the team's 12 knocks in the outing.

*Jarrett Pokrovsky went 1-for-5, but had two RBI.

*Wyatt Henseler extended his hitting streak to 17 straight games on his first home run of the season, 33rd of his career.

*Ryan Taylor doubled to extend his reached-base streak to 17 straight games.

*Cole Zaffiro was charged with the loss after allowing three runs on four hits over 3.2 innings. He struck out four but walked six while facing 21 batters.

*In Game 2, the top five hitters once again excelled at the plate, combining for eight of the Quakers' 10 hits in the win.

*Three of those were off the bat of Davis Baker, who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

*Pokrovsky went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a walk.

*Speaking of walks, Penn drew six of them.

*Henseler had a hit in three at-bats with two RBI to extend his hit streak to 18 straight games dating back to last season. Taylor also picked up a knock to bring his reached-base streak to 18 in a row.

*Josh Katz (1-0) was excellent in his first-career start, tossing four shutout innings while allowing just three hits with five Ks and a walk.

*Marty Coyne took care of business in the final three innings to earn his first-career save, striking out four with two runs allowed on two hits.
 
How It Happened (Game 1)
Connor Chavez continued his hot start to the season with a leadoff single in the top of the first inning, but his teammates left him stranded to head to the bottom half.
 
ACU took an early 1-0 lead against Cole Zaffiro, using a walk and a double to translate into an RBI off a sacrifice-fly.
 
The Wildcats held the Penn bats relatively quiet for the next three innings until Wyatt Henseler led off the fourth with a towering solo home run to left field to tie the game at 1-1.
 
With one on and two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Abilene Christian picked up two more runs on a two-run double to left to take a 3-1 lead.
 
Now facing Tommy Delany who replaced Zaffiro to end the fourth, ACU tacked on run No. 4, 5 and 6 in the fifth to go ahead 6-1.
 
Penn had a chance to get closer following back-to-back singles from Chavez and Davis Baker, but Henseler struck out swinging to end the threat, the Wildcats still ahead by five runs.
 
It was a four-run inning on two hits for ACU in the seventh to take a commanding 10-1 lead, which seemed insurmountable at the time. The Quakers had some life left in the top of the ninth inning as Penn recorded three consecutive hits—a single for Asa Wilson, a single for Chavez and an RBI double off the bat of Baker—to cut the deficit back a run, now 10-2. Henseler was hit by a pitch and Jarrett Pokrovsky delivered a two RBI single to left to make it 10-4 all with no outs.
 
After Nate Polo struck out swinging, Nick Spaventa walked to load the bases. ACU set down Ryan Taylor and Calvin Brown swinging back-to-back to end the ballgame and take the 10-4 victory.
 
How It Happened (Game 2)
Playing a seven-inning contest in the nightcap of the twin bill, the Quakers got right back to work, scoring two early runs at the start of the inning. Connor Chavez found himself on first base after getting hit by a pitch and ultimately scored on Davis Baker's triple to left center, giving the Quakers the 1-0 cushion.
 
Wyatt Henseler's single up the middle brought home Baker to make it a 2-0 game.
 
Making his collegiate debut, freshman Josh Katz worked out of danger to begin the first inning after surrendering back-to-back singles and a hit batsman by recording his first punchout and a groundout to end the frame.
 
Katz did much of the same to begin the bottom of the second, striking out the first two ACU hitters it sent up, both looking.
 
After a Chavez walk and Baker single to left field, Henseler drove in Chavez on a groundout to the shortstop, upping the Penn lead to 3-0.
 
Katz struck out Ladusau swinging and forced Gino D'Alessio into a double play to end the third inning.
 
The Quakers took a 4-0 lead in the fifth on Ryan Taylor's RBI single to first base, driving in Baker.
 
Marty Coyne relieved Katz in the bottom half of the fifth inning, allowing three early baserunners and ACU's first run of the day on a single, making it 4-1. The Wildcats tacked on another on D'Alessio's RBI single, but the defense bailed out Coyne with a flyout and a throwout at third to keep it 4-2.
 
With two outs to begin the sixth, Penn blew the game open on Pokrovsky's three-run, bases-clearing double to left field to take a 7-2 lead.
 
Coyne retired six in a row between the sixth and seventh innings to pick up the save and preserve the Quakers' 7-2 victory, the team's first of the year.
 
Up Next
Penn closes out the series with Abilene Christian Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on WAC International with live stats provided through StatBroadcast.
 
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